Inaugural Eagle Flights to take off at Oshkosh

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s new Eagle Flights program, the aviation orientation program for adults, will have its official kickoff this summer with inaugural flights at the EAA AirVenture fly-in, which is scheduled for July 23-29 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis.

The Eagle Flights program, which is based on the EAA Young Eagles flights for youth, will focus on one-to-one flight experiences and pathways that help adults toward discovering more about flying and eventual pilot certification, EAA officials said.

“EAA AirVenture is the perfect place to launch the program, as the world’s aviation attention is focused on Oshkosh that week,” said Jeff Skiles, EAA’s vice president of chapters and youth education, who is also coordinating the Eagle Flights program. “In addition, in 2012 we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Young Eagles, which was launched at Oshkosh in 1992 and has created thousands of pilots in the past two decades. We’re confident that Eagle Flights will be a similar pathway for thousands of adults who want to pursue their dreams of flight.”

As with the 1.6 million youth flown through the Young Eagles program since 1992, EAA Eagle Flights will supply orientation flights free of charge by volunteer EAA-member pilots. Registration material, structure, and additional insurance coverage will be provided through EAA. Eagle Flights participants can be flown either in single flights or part of larger rallies typically hosted by EAA chapters.

EAA first announced that it would create a flight introduction program for adults during EAA AirVenture 2011. The Eagle Flights program is part of EAA’s effort to reduce barriers to entering aviation and encouraging participation, officials said.